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News & Updates from Gum Springs Elementary School
Week of April 24-28, 2023
News & Updates
JCSS will be switching to a new online meal payment system, effective May 1. Please read the graphic below for specific information. Visit https://family.titank12.com/ to create your new account. Also, please monitor your child's lunch balance carefully as our year is coming to a close. If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to our cafeteria manager, Brandy Moon.
Georgia Milestones (GMAS) assessments will soon be administered to 3rd-5th grade students. The schedule begins next week. Parents of 3rd-5th grade students should have received a letter via Remind this week. You can also view it HERE. Our students have worked very hard this year, and we are confident they will do great!
Our Gum Springs Gizmos FIRST LEGO League team had an AMAZING first season and are looking for new teammates! If your child would like to try out to be part of the 2023-24 GSES Gizmos team, tryouts will be held May 9 from 3:00 to 5:00 P.M. Parents of interested rising 4th and 5th graders should fill out this Google form by May 4. Check out the team's commercial at https://tinyurl.com/joingsgizmos to learn more about this awesome after-school opportunity for next year!
Parents are welcome to come cheer for your child at this year’s Field Day festivities from 9:00 to 10:30 A.M. (See dates below.) GSES Field Days will take place on the WJMS football field. Due to the number of classes who will be participating in Field Day at the same time, we ask that all spectators remain on the track or in the bleachers. NO VISITORS WILL BE ALLOWED ON THE FIELD. (We ask this for the safety of our students.) Please know that parking is extremely limited at GSES on school days, and no parking is allowed along the cut-through road between GSES and WJMS. Students must remain with their teacher during the event. If you would like to check out your child after Field Day, teachers will have sign-out sheets available at Field Day dismissal. Our staff has worked hard to plan an awesome Field Day for our students, and we appreciate your cooperation to ensure it is a safe and FUN day!
Pre-K + Multi-Grade Classes: May 12
Kdg + 1st Grade: May 15
2nd + 3rd Grade: May 16
4th + 5th Grade: May 17
We are excited to recognize our students' many accomplishments at this year's Award's Day celebrations! Guests are welcome to join us. Please add the dates on the schedule below to your calendars. Notifications will be sent home on May 10 to families of students who will be receiving an award. (Pre-K families, please note a correction to the time for your child's ceremony from the graphic shared in last week's edition. The graphic has been updated to show the Pre-K ceremony will begin at 9:00 A.M.)
GSES PTO would like to invite families to help "Set the Stage" for a Successful Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week May 1-5. If families would like to join PTO's themed week of fun, here are their suggestions:
Monday, May 1--Concessions: Bring a snack or treat for your teacher.
Tuesday, May 2--Autographs: Bring your teacher her/his favorite writing tools, like fun-colored Flair Pens, Sharpies, or Gel Pens.
Wednesday, May 3--Fan Mail: Write your teacher a special note.
Thursday, May 4--Curtian Call: Give your teacher flowers! PTO will also be selling them in the atrium for $1.
Friday, May 5--Swag Bag: Bring a gift you know your teacher will love.
Thank you for helping PTO make our teachers and staff feel extra-special!
This Week's
After-School Clubs
Monday: Tech Club (pick-up at 4:00)
Science Olympiad (pick-up at 4:00)
Tuesday: Drama Club Cast, Crew, & Ensemble (pick-up at 4:30)
Thursday: Drama Club Cast, Crew, & Ensemble (pick-up at 4:30)
Science Olympiad (pick-up at 4:00)
Upcoming Events
April 28: 1st Grade Field Trip to Washington Farms
May 1-5: Teacher Appreciation Week
May 1-4: 3rd Grade GMAS (Milestones Assessment)
May 1-5: 5th Grade GMAS (Milestones Assessment)
May 8-11: 4th Grade GMAS (Milestones Assessment)
May 9: GS Gizmos LEGO League Tryouts
May 12: Kdg Field Trip to Washington Farms
May 12: Field Day for Pre-K & Multi-Grade Classes
May 15: Kdg & 1st Grade Field Day
May 16: 2nd & 3rd Grade Field Day
May 17: 4th & 5th Grade Field Day
May 18-23: Awards Day Programs (See schedule below)
May 19: 2nd Grade Field Trip to Consolidated Mines
May 23: Last Day of School
SCHOOL SPOTLIGHTS
Finding our "FRED"s at GSES
Members of our staff have been reading a book together this year called "The Fred Factor." We loved it so much that we've also been teaching students what is means to be a "Fred" and looking for great examples around GSES! A 'Fred' is someone who goes above and beyond to deliver excellent service or leadership or do something unexpected to help someone else. Freds stand out in their work and spirit, regardless the role or circumstances.
We are excited to honor six Freds at the end of each month by gifting them a token to our new book vending machine! Our staff members nominated students, and two lucky winners were spun on the Wheel of Names on our morning news. Our other four Freds were recognized for outstanding attendance (no absences, no tardies, and no checkouts for the entire month of March!). These winners were randomly drawn from among all students with perfect attendance. Congratulations to our March winners: Cozy, Kade, Braden, Emerson, Jaxson, and Kaleb. We are proud to see our students showing great character and responsibility!
Celebrating Success
"Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt." That is the Special Olympic Athlete's Oath, and our Panthers embodied it on Friday, April 21st as they participated in the Jackson County Special Olympics. Students from Mrs. Hendley, Mrs. Parker, Mrs. Benkoski, Mrs. Lankford, Mrs. Clark, and Mrs. Richardson's classes represented GSES with great pride!
We started our school day at GSES on Friday by sending our participants off in style and celebration! Many of our 3rd-5th grade students helped make a human tunnel to cheer for for our participants as they walked to load their bus. At the event, GSES student Trinity Taylor read the athlete's oath to kick off the opening ceremony, and Jacob Miranda was honored to lead the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Throughout the day, athletes participated in many throwing and running events, and many ribbons were won, ranging from 1st-3rd place. Each athlete had a wonderful high school buddy from either JCHS or EJCHS. (Coach Backer's daughter and GSES alumnus Brooklyn was a great buddy to Sarah from GSES!). Our student athletes had a great time and showed great spirit!
STEAM Story Bus Rolls into GSES!
We were excited to initiate a new addition to our JCSS fleet this week--the JCSS STEAM STORY BUS! The STEAM Story Bus made its official debut on Thursday, April 20th with ribbon cutting ceremonies at our JCSS elementary schools, including a stop at GSES. The STEAM Story Bus will be visiting our students regularly next year, but several classes were honored to get a sneak peek with today's first stop. Think of the STEAM Story Bus as a traveling-library-meets-mobile- Science-Lab! Students enjoyed having time today to hear a story, watch a science demonstration, explore the mobile library, and hear all about how the STEAM Story Bus went from idea to reality. Thanks to the JCSS Teaching and Learning Department for offering this fun, new learning opportunity for our students and to the high school students whose amazing art was used to create the exterior design. We were proud to have our GSES Teacher of the Year Ms. Hendley and GSES Support Person of the Year Mrs. Burns be the official ribbon cutters as well. We are excited about the great fun and learning headed our way with this amazing new addition to the Jackson County School System.
Earth Day
Happy Earth Day! Our 3rd graders really enjoyed their recent science unit about ways to take care of our planet, and Earth Day was the perfect occassion to put what they had learned to action. Mrs. Goodrick's 3rd Grade class wrapped up their week-long celebration of Earth Day on Friday with an upcycling project. Upcycling is finding a new use for an item instead of throwing it away or recycling it. Student took items that would have ended up in either our recycling or trash bins and gave them a new life. The students were incredibly creative while they learned about how to help reduce waste and protect our planet.
Mrs. Brunen’s 3rd grade class put their science and math skills to the test. They started by picking up trash all around the school. Each student used a scale to find the mass of their trash, then they found the mass of their entire table’s trash, and then they put it all together and found the total of the entire class. They collected a whopping 4,900 grams of trash! Everyone’s small part can help make a BIG difference!
Inspiring Author
For most of our fifth graders, the historical fiction novels by Alan Gratz have been the spark which inspired a love for reading and writing. Mrs. Hawk, Mr. Laird, and Mrs. Tinnell’s 5th grade classes participated in a unique opportunity to virtually meet Mr. Gratz, learn about his interest in particular historical events, his diligence in creating the perfect plot elements, and exciting plans for future graphic novels. The students even had the opportunity to post questions in the live Q & A. What a great way to inspire our budding authors!
Community Connections Shining Bright
The Gum Springs Gizmos LEGO Robotics team has been researching and working on a project to use solar power to run the GSES greenhouse. To see how solar power is used in our community, the Gizmos took an AMAZING field trip to the Toyota Solar Field this week! Two electrical engineers from Green Power Solar, two engineers from Jackson EMC, and the Toyota Plant Manager spent about an hour and a half with the team. Students were able to see the measured use of power it takes to run multiple lightbulbs and a fan as well as position a solar panel using multiple angles to determine which angle and direction absorbed the most sunlight. They discussed AC and DC power and how most household products use AC power but solar panels create DC power and need a device called an inverter to convert the current. The team had the opportunity to view the MANY rows of solar panels in the field and were shown how the panels rotate and face the sun throughout the day. The team learned that the entire Toyota plant is fully powered by this solar field and that there is even some generated power left over that can be used through their co-op with Jackson EMC. They even had the opportunity to step inside the Toyota plant and learn a little bit about what goes on there. Now the team has even more information to help in the project to create a solar greenhouse! If you have any expertise in this area, please contact coaches Mrs. Sheridan or Mrs. Meier. We would LOVE to have your help to make this project happen!
Smart "Cookies"
Ms. Rechin’s kindergarten class has been working hard on opinion writing, and what better model to help learn a strategy for it than using an O.R.E.O. as their reminder! Students practiced writing including their Opinion, Reason, Example, and restated Opinion to help organize their writing. Students earned a mega-stuffed Oreo if they were able to follow the guidelines of the O.R.E.O. for writing an organized opinion piece about the best pet. Great job, kindergarten writers!
D is for Dinosaur
Our classes are counting down the days to summer with an A-B-C Countdown! "D is for Dinosaur" Day was a big hit this week in our kindergarten classes. Students enjoyed learning activities such as making Dino fossils, digging for fossils, eating Dino nests with Dino eggs, reading dinosaur stories, and sharpening their handwriting skills with a fun dinosaur-themed "Write the Room” activity. They also had fun using math skills to measure dinosaurs, place them in water to watch them grow, and measure them again. Oh what fun it is to learn!
Soaring in Math
Second grade smarties SOARED while finishing up their measurement unit this week. Mrs. Black's students created their own paper airplanes, flew them, and measured the distance of each flight. Students then solved measurement word problems using the data they collected. We love seeing our mathematicians apply their learning.
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