Westwood school board holds team-building retreat, outlines 10 "Westwood Wisdom" principles

President Cheryl Bell called the Westwood Community School District Board of Education's team-building activity to order at 9:47 a.m. Saturday, April 25, 2026, at the Equilla Bradford Administrative Center in Dearborn Heights. Attendees included Vice President Timothy Emery, Secretary Sarah Ward, Trustee Angela Hopkins, Superintendent Dr. Stiles X. Simmons, recording secretary Trudy E. Murry and Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) facilitator Deborah Macon; Treasurer Roderick Means and Trustees Narabia Little and Donald Willis were recorded as absent.

MasB facilitator Deborah Macon led exercises prompting each participant to mark when they arrived in the District and when they began service. The timeline recollections included President Cheryl Bell (entered Westwood in 2001; joined the board in 2008), Vice President Timothy Emery (entered in 1955; joined the board in 1998), Secretary Sarah Ward (entered 1954; joined the board in the 2010s), Trustee Angela Hopkins (entered 1963; joined the board in 2018) and Superintendent Dr. Stiles X. Simmons (hired July 1, 2018). Facilitator Macon recorded decade-by-decade observations from attendees, noting long-standing parental involvement in the 1950s, Westwood's emergence as a diverse community and episodes of racial tension in the 1970s, volunteer efforts by Emery in the 1980s and 1990s, a 2000s period of declining enrollment and a state-approved deficit tied to student busing, and a period of state oversight and subsequent deficit elimination in the 2010s. The record states the district eliminated its deficit in 2018 and that, in the 2020s, voters approved a sinking fund and a bond that funded deferred-maintenance work (dates for those votes were not specified in the meeting record).

The board worked through a set of ten principles the facilitator labeled "Westwood Wisdom 2026." The list, recorded by Macon from attendees, included: "Everyone can lead; Teaming counts; It's safe to speak your mind; Model values; Each one, teach one; each one, reach one; Collaboration matters; Do the work; Leverage individual talents; Respect one another; Seize opportunity." As recorded in the meeting, Macon said the principles captured the group's aims for psychological safety, shared responsibility and practical collaboration. "Everyone can lead: This is evidenced by the fact that a previous Board goal was for all Board members to take the Board Presidents Workshop offered through the Michigan Association of School Boards," the facilitator recorded.

As part of the retreat, each attendee chose a short, third-grade-level book to read and selected a single word or short phrase linking the book's theme to board service (examples recorded in the minutes included "courage," "creativity," "resilience," "collaboration" and "collecting information"). The meeting record notes a buffet breakfast was served and that Secretary Sarah Ward left at 12:35 p.m. The session adjourned at 1:31 p.m.; the minutes were prepared by Recording Secretary Trudy E. Murry and signed by Secretary Sarah Ward.

The event was described throughout as a non-decision, internal governance-development exercise; no motions, votes or formal policy actions were taken during this session.