Excellence in Youth

INTEREST & TALENT DEVELOPMENT FOR ALL LEARNERS!

The Excellence in Youth (EY) Program at Westside Community Schools provides expanded learning opportunities for students with high ability, in addition to fostering and encouraging talent development in all students.

Dec 1st-5th - Online School Level Geography Bees
Dec 8th-12th - Classroom Level Spelling Bees
Jan 12th-16th - Online School Level Spelling Bees
January 30th - District Level Spelling Bee at WMS

Check Out Local Events & Contests!

Looking for something fun or inspiring to do? Visit our Events & Contests button on the EY website to find activities happening around the Omaha area for kids and families!

New opportunities are added often—so check back from time to time to see what might spark your interest!

The National Civics Bee Essay Contest
Americanism Essay Contest
Rubber Band Contest

Events & Contests

Digital Dozen Stars!

The Excellence In Youth Team is thrilled to shine a spotlight on Bhavyasri B. from Swanson and Madelyn T. from Prairie Lane as being the most recent recipients of the Digital Dozen Award for the 2025-2026 school year! This award is earned by WCS students who complete 12 digital badge projects from the EY Website (ey.westside66.org), which is accessible to students across the district. It takes hard work, grit, and dedication to earn these badges, and this bright star should be proud of this shining accomplishment! Congratulations!

Bhavyasri B.

Swanson

Madelyn T.

Prairie Lane

The EY team would like to shout out the following students who are well on their way to earning the Digital Dozen! These students have earned 6 or more badges this year.

Keep up the great work!

Modou N. - Swanson

Jaquith C. - Oakdale

Hadley M. - Rockbrook

Marian R. - Rockbrook

Evelyn W. - Oakdale

Shawn C. - Prairie Lane

Chloe. E. - Swanson

Owen O. - Sunset

Johan P. - Swanson

Ellis W. - Sunset

Lillie W. - Swanson

Adela J. - Westgate

Hadley Mc. - Rockbrook

Ayden S. - Sunset

George R. - Oakdale

Caroline A. - Sunset

Jaxon B. - Swanson

EY Badges

Click on the WMS Enrichment tab to view the variety of enrichment opportunities your Westside Middle School students can explore! There are Math & Science Weekly Challenges, Writing Contests, and more!

WMS Enrichment

Go check out the WMS Enrichment site!

Students can earn candy for answering the Weekly Math Challenge and/or the Science Question of the Week!
We have a running Current Events Competition on the Social Studies Enrichment page - encourage your student to get involved by taking the Weekly Current Events Challenge and emailing me a screenshot of their score! Prizes awarded each month!
There are writing contests available on the Language Arts Enrichment page!
Quiz Bowl and Classics Book Club are up and running! Send Mrs. Sindt an email at sindt.kathleen@westside66.net if you want to join!

Parents - please remind your WMS students to check their emails. Emails are the best way for me to communicate enrichment opportunities!

Classics Book Club

Classics Book Club has been busy reading A Wrinkle in Time and Little Women. This club is new at WMS and members include: Rosalie M., Sloane T., Claire W., Alice H. and Claire A.

Quiz Bowl!

The WMS team came out strong and won the first round 105-40 and second round 100-60 at the Quiz Bowl competition on Monday, November 17th at ESU 3. The team made an incredible comeback to win the 3rd round 75-70, and then lost the next 2 consecutive rounds. Congratulations! Pictured are (from L to R): Jackson K., Kytrin D., Sam P., Alice H., and Claire W.