WMS
WEST SIDE PARK MIDDLE SCHOOL
ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
02
Message of Gratitude
11
Spotlight: Ms. Ghazzawi
03
Campus
13
Spotlight: Mr. Marshall
04
Scholar Photos
15
Notes of Appreciation
07
Notes of Appreciation
17
Scholar Photos
09
Scholar Photos
18
Scholar Photos
THE STUDENTS AND STAFF OF WMS PRESENT THIS BOOK AS A TOKEN OF OUR GRATITUDE & APPRECIATION FOR ALL YOU DO!
WEST SIDE PARK MIDDLE SCHOOL
“Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.” – Karl Barth
“The root of joy is gratefulness.” - David Steindl-Rast
We Appreciate your HARD WORK
We Appreciate you BEING ALL HANDS
To the world you may an educator, and school leader, but to your students you are a HERO!
“In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give out completes the circle and comes back to us.” – Flora Edwards
Caique Nascimento Grace and Stuart, I first would like to say that you two make a great team! The chemistry you both share is evident. It has been a pleasure to be part of your team and this WMS family. Together you both have led and are leading WMS to greatness. Grace, I sincerely appreciate your tenacity and work ethic, it is inspiring to know that you as a leader are always giving it your utmost. Stuart, from onboarding to always being no more than a text away you have guided me through many of my firsts here at WMS. I appreciate that you always have an answer. No matter the question or concern, I know that you will have an answer or a solution and if worse come to worse I know that you will come up with a plan for next steps and we will figure it out together. Thank you both for being flexible, understanding, and empathetic. Cheers to more years!
Luv Hooks Grace and Stuart, Since I’ve had the pleasure of working at WMS Grace and Stuart have been such an essential part of our success. Grace has kept the community together during this time through joy, frequent communication, and consistency of expectations.Stuart finds a way to always maintain a positive attitude during the toughest times. He is always willing to listen and always try to help. Grace and Stuart are invested in enriching students with core values and leadership skills that uplift our community. They are patient with students, staff, and families. They are a fantastic duo! Thank you both for helping WMS excel and surpass all expectations! We couldn’t do this without you!!
Morgan Spellman
Grace, you have taught me everything I know, and I enjoy learning from you and the friendship we have been able to develop over time. Thank you for always believing in me and being patient with me. I am also so thankful that you always share your passion for social justice with the team! I deeply appreciate working for someone so committed to their values and beliefs. You are the best of the best! Stuart- Thank you for putting up with all my questions, antics, and (often misdirected) frustration. It is no small job to manage all the things that are thrown at you daily while running the operations of a school and you do it with ease, and with a sense of humor that I really appreciate. Thank you for everything that you do and a double thank you for everything you are doing to make remote learning go so smoothly. I appreciate you!
Genivie Williams Thank you for everything you do. The work we do is not easy, and you do it with a great attitude every day. Your positivity makes our team amazing!
Skyler Wilburn Dear Grace, It only feels like yesterday when I was walking the halls of Canfield Middle School in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho anticipating a call to find out where I would be teaching the following year. Since then so much has happened in my life and looking back I can not fathom the amount of growth I have obtained thanks to you and everything you do. I came to you as a young, right out of college, bright eyed kid wanting to make a change and positively impact the world. Thanks to your coaching and support I feel as though I have done that in just the short two years that I’ve been a part of WMS. I want to tell you that I appreciate how much you have pushed me, how much you check in on me, and how much you positively reinforce the person I am becoming. You always give me a confidence boost when I’m feeling down and you always build me up when I second guess myself. My favorite thing was this year when I was struggling with some vision issues and without skipping a beat you were there to offer any support, advice, and insight on the situation based on your prior experience. I think that a lot of times people forget how much you’ve been through and experienced in your life because of the position you are in. However, I want to tell you that I value every ounce of life, and professional, experience you bring to WMS. Thank you for being such an outstanding member of the family. Dear Stuart, Man, I guess I’m just going to keep sharing the love to you on a consistent basis lately (lol). We both like to constantly reflect upon our morning drives in the beginning of the year when I was commuting from Queens, but I want to go past that in this letter of appreciation. I want to talk about how much I appreciate when you are making rounds at the end of the day or checking classroom for checklists you always make it a point to also stop and converse about sports or concerts or anything at all. It nice to get the time to just chat and hang out, even if it is for just a few moments. I think you get a lot of grief that you don’t deserve, you do such an intense job and you are amazing at it. It is dumbfounding to me how you manage to juggle all of the different schedules you make, all of the systems, and all of the coverage. Especially considering how unorganized I am. Man, you’re always killing it and I want you to know that it does not go unrecognized how hard you work and how much time you put into everything you do. You’re an extravagant human being and I love the experience that you bring to WMS. Thank you for everything you do.
We Appreciate Your KINDNESS & SMILE
We Appreciate You MAKING US FEEL HEARD
“A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles.” – William Hazlitt
"The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them." — Ralph Nichols
We Appreciate Your "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." LEADERSHIP -John C. Maxwell
We Appreciate Your STRENGTH
“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” – Christopher Reeve
MS. GHAZZAWI, WE APPRECIATE YOU “At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” – Albert Schweitzer
MS. GHAZZAWI, WE APPRECIATE YOU
“Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.” – Lionel Hampton
MR. MARSHALL WE APPRECIATE YOU
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” – Gilbert C. Chesterton
MR. MARSHALL WE APPRECIATE YOU
“Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.” – Henri Frederic Amiel
Daphne Major
Grace, you are a wonderful person inside and out. You believed in me when I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe in myself. I do not know how you juggle so many things at once and pushing people to be their best at the same time. I would not be the teacher I am today with out along my side pushing me every moment. Thank you for wearing so many hats at any given moment. You are truly a ROCKSTAR! <3 STEWWWWYYYY, I always wanted to say that, well I do whenever I see an email from you. You are a joy to be around, thank you for all the behind the scenes. You really make our school run smoothly even during this crisis. Your one pagers, that we all love and your thoughtfulness of to best support us is seamless. Thank you for everything that you do for us and for our students! <3
Minal Patel Grace, in my years as a teacher I have never seen someone so committed to every detail of our students, families and our school! You have transformed our school in so many ways and done it with ease! (I know you may not think that but it is true) Thank you for loving our students unconditionally and showing everyone what it means to teach with true love and passion each and everyday. You have stepped up and not only run the school but you have taught ELA to history and still managing the whole school, how I am not sure! You make others work harder because of the dedication you have for WMS! Would not know what I would do without you! Stuart, Your job is not an easy one because you have so many different aspects that you have to make sure are checked off as a DOO and if it is not correct you have to plan and re-plan. Over the course of the last few years and you have done it with such ease! Thank you for always checking in with me and making sure I am okay, it is greatly appreciated! Thank you for always being there for our kids to make sure they always get their needs met and you do everything in your power to make it happen!
Laura Timmerman Stuart, Thank you for giving me this chance! You are a wonderful boss who knows how to bring out the best in your employees. Please except my heartfelt gratitude for all the support and motivation! You are so helpful, kind, and generous with your time and energy. Grace, People may not remember exactly what you did or what you do but they will always remember how you made them feel. Thank you for always showing up every day with your best self! You care for your staff in so many ways and we appreciate you! You always go above and beyond for our Middle Schools. Thank you for all of the love, kindness and compassion you show our children each day. You make a difference in so many of our lives.
Danielle Campbell
Grace, thank you for being a role model for me since the moment I met you during my interview wayyy back in 2018. I am so grateful to have you as not only the leader of our school, but also someone that I know I can go to when times are tough or I just need someone to talk to. You do an amazing job at balancing your leadership presence, bringing staff joy, and being a confidante to so many of us at WMS. I hope you have enjoyed some more down time with remote learning, since you deserve to rest a little more than getting up at 5am every day! Thank you for everything you do and everything you have taught me! Stuart, you are often an overlooked rock of the school. However, our school would not operate without you behind the scenes making schedules, budgeting, calling on elevator repairs (I hate the stairs!), holding meetings with staff to know where WMS can improve, and managing all school events. You do all of this without missing a beat, often take the brunt of frustrations, and show up in no time when needed. You are the glue of our school and I appreciate the work you do every day.
Brian Brian Harrington Harrington Mr. Marshall, I cannot thank you enough for the million times on scheduling or computer, or similar situations you took the time to step in and work with me on a solution to the problem. The 1 billion things you deal with on a daily basis must be crazy-but never once have you ever let it show. You are part of the heart of west side and that is your pride. Thanks again Ms. Ghazzawi, the amount you do only is compared to the heart you put into it. The inspiration of never giving up and working to figure out what needs to be done is amazing. You are all the Wizard of Oz characters in one-You have heart, courage, brains, and always working to be home at WMS!!! Like Mickey as the sorcerer’s apprentice-you make those brooms dance and move!!! Thank you so much for being the driving force this very challenging year.
Dean Jumah Stuart, thank you, for all the hard work and all that you do for our school. You are always the voice of reason in those difficult moments and I appreciate it! Grace, I appreciate you for the countless acts of kindness, unwavering love for all our students, and the fostering of ideas to motivate our school community. “To the world you may be a teacher, but to your students you are a HERO.” – Unknown
“Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.” – Karl Barth